The mutant heroes known as the X-Men celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2013, and Marvel Comics is promoting the anniversary with a 10-part weekly crossover called “X-Men: Battle of the Atom.”

The cover to "X-Men: Battle of the Atom" No. 1 is shown. Image provided by Marvel Comics

The series kicks off on Sept. 4, and will feature the past, present and future of the X-Men characters.

The original X-Men have been trapped in our present — their future — in the pages of the comic “All-New X-Men.” But in “Battle of the Atom,” a different team of X-Men comes from the future to warn the All-New X-Men: They must return to the past.

“The story itself hinges on the All-New X-Men and whether or not they need to be sent back to their home time,” said X-Men Senior Editor Nick Lowe at Marvel.com. “This causes the X-Men of the past, present and future to pick sides.”

“This event really celebrates everything that we all love about the X-Men, to the extent that you get the X-Men of the past, present and future all coming together in one epic story that spans all the major locations of modern-day mutantdom,” Aaron said at marvel.com.

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Features Editor Matthew Price has worked for The Oklahoman since 2000. He’s a University of Oklahoma graduate who has also worked at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and was a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund intern for the Dallas Morning News. He’s...